


Reciprocity

by BitZombie



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Is the void a character, basically the mark is... not so much a gift when you have to pay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-29 20:09:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7697833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BitZombie/pseuds/BitZombie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The void consumes everything. Being so close to it for so long does not absolve those Marked by the Outsider of the consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reciprocity

The mark is never just a mark. It looks deceptively simple, a tattoo, ink under the skin and nothing more, but it is not.

The void itself is a living thing–a constant threat on the verge of devouring all reality and expanding like a bloated corpse left too long in the sun–so it stands to reason that any extension of it would carry that same threat.

Corvo knows this, he’s not unaware of the risks of meddling with the void, and yet the extent of them catches him off guard, and leaves a pit in his stomach like some gaping beast.

It starts with an itch. There is always some sensation when he pulls from the void, a sort of elastic feeling like the void itself is pulling back, trying to take back what’s been given, or perhaps to take something else in recompense. He tries not to think too deeply on the subject, but when the sensation persists longer and longer after use, he begins to worry.

He has been using the mark quite often, admittedly–it’s a far sight easier than anything else he could do, and there is something incredibly satisfying about traversing an entire district unnoticed–and the feeling isn’t enough to stop him, but he does find himself paying much closer attention to how it feels, both when the mark is used and when it is not.

The itch and pull becomes something akin to a wound healing, the sensation of a scab pulling at the skin around it when he closes his fist, but the skin remains unblemished under the mark, smooth and unmarred by scar or injury. Still, he finds himself rubbing the flesh as though to ease the discomfort.

Months later, as Emily is returned to the Tower, his hand begins to feel _odd_ , a side effect of constant exposure to the voids particular magic, he thinks, though he starts at that point to wrap it in soft bandages. Not to hide but to ease, because the feeling of friction reminds him that it is still _his_ hand, and that is a feeling he is sorely missing.

Of course, after that the mark’s behaviour eases, and Corvo busies himself with other, more important things, leaving his worries about his connection to the void to simmer in the back of his mind.He barely looks at it anymore, using it sparingly as though he knows what overuse will lead to, what awaits him should the mark continue to change.

He does not know.

And the mark does change.

Beneath the fabric of gloves and bandage, the void is oozing from black pores, staining leather and skin both beyond the physical. The branches of the mark begin to spread like roots, tracing fine veins through pale skin.

They are all following the same path, the same direction, and there is no stopping their slow invasion.

Eventually they will reach his heart, or maybe his mind.

The void will have him, whether he acknowledges it or not.

**Author's Note:**

> A little comma-heavy blurb based on some old conversations and a conglomerate of headcanons. The idea of the void slowly consuming the Marked and them being able to feel it is sort of fascinating to me.
> 
> I am incredibly new to this, but constructive criticism is appreciated. I also post my works and headcanons @ blackwatchbound on tumblr.


End file.
